Living wills and durable powers of attorney can help your loved ones know, and follow, your health care wishes.

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It's not something anyone likes to talk about, but if you have chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), your medical team may have mentioned advance directives. Advance directives are documents that provide specific instructions for your loved ones and your physicians regarding your medical care. They're useful in the event you're no longer able to communicate or make those decisions for yourself.

Advance directives are a good idea for anyone, regardless of their health status. But it often takes a specific event, such as the diagnosis of COPD, to trigger a person to take action and put advance directives into place.

"Generally, when people are healthy, they are not thinking about" advance directives, according to Kathy Black, PhD, Hartford Geriatric Social Work Faculty Scholar and associate professor at the School of Social Work, University of South Florida at Sarasota/Manatee. "The reality is that when people's health deteriorates they are more likely to think about them," she says.

COPD and Advance Directives: The Two Types
There are two types of advance directives that are particularly common in medical care:

Living wills. Living wills are legal documents that detail your wishes about life-sustaining treatments in the event of a terminal illness. They are used to convey your treatment wishes when you can no longer communicate and/or make medical decisions for yourself. A living will can tell your medical team what types of treatments you do and don't want given during certain circumstances.

Durable power of attorney for medical care. Since you cannot foresee every potential circumstance that may occur if you are too ill to make decisions for yourself, it is also a good idea to have a durable power of attorney. This medical document appoints one person to make your medical decisions in the event you are no longer able to do so.

COPD and Advance Directives: Things to Consider
Some important things to consider when drafting advance directives:

Consider your options carefully. "These really are truly life-and-death decision documents," says Black. When drafting a living will, think carefully about potential medical treatments and how far you want treatments to go. And when you are doing a durable power of attorney, choose the person who you feel would do the best job honoring your wishes. "The person you appoint should know what you want and should want to honor you," Black says.

Get specific. When you are making advance directives after learning about a COPD diagnosis, talk with your medical team about what your future may hold. "People who have COPD should certainly consider whether they want to get on a respirator or not," says Black. "Many times you get on the respirator, you can’t get off and you are on long-term [ventilator] care."

Do some soul-searching. "Think about your own life — how you value your life and how you value living — and let those values guide what you want if you become unable to speak for yourself," says Black.

Communicate your wishes. "Communication is critical," says Black. She stresses the importance of talking about what is in your advance directives with your loved ones and medical team. "It's really best when everybody is on the same page," she says.

COPD and Advance Directives: Getting Started
If you are ready to put advance directives in place, your medical team may be able to provide you with the forms you need. You can also find the documents and more information online. Black says that organizations such as Caring Connections, which provides free advance directives and instructions for each state, can link you up with documents that are legal in your state.

Hopefully, there won't be a need to use an advance directive in the future. But having one will provide you and your family with peace of mind and one less thing to worry about as you manage your COPD.

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